Steam-condenser for clothes-presses



J. BUFF. STEAM CONDENSER FOR CLOTHES PRESSIES.

APPLICATION FILED APR-19- I919.

Patented Aug. 30, 1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

u B ml W8 WITNESSES A TTORNEYS J. BUFF. STEAM CONDENSER FOR CLOTHES P'RESSES. APPLICATION FILED APR.19'. 1919.

WITNESSES nvmvrok Jew/5 Burr By Arm/mus PATENT OFFICE.

JACOB BUFF, OF JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY.

STEAM-CONDENSER FOR CLOTHES-PRESSES Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 30, 1921.

Application filed April 19, 1919. Serial No. 291,395.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JACOB Burr, a'c'itizen of the United States, and a resident of Jersey City, county of Hudson, and State of New Jersey, have invented a new'and Improved Steam-Condenser for Clothes-Presses, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to a steam con-. denser apparatus for use in connection with steam presses for pressing garments.

A broad purpose of this invention is to provide a condensing apparatus to be installed upon any standard type of steam clothes press, and-used with the press for the purpose .of collecting the exhaust steam. And a further purpose is to provide means for collecting the cold water condensation which forms in the pipe during the rest period of the press- 1 Further, it is an object of the present invention to converge the condensed water to a common point and again utilize it within the clothes press boiler to and to promote economy in'the use of heating fuel and to eliminate the annoying exhaust noise of the steam by muflling said exhaust and also for preventing the hot steam from passing into the room and heating up the surrounding atmosphere in which tailors and operators work.

With the above and other objects in view, the invention relates to a certain combination and arrangement of parts, an example of which is described in the following specification, pointed out in. the appended claims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 illustrates a perspective view of a clothes press upon which my steam conan denser has been installed.

. Fig. 2 shows a diagrammatical lay-out of my apparatus shown in connected relation with the parts of a steam clothes press.

Fig. 3 shows a condensing reservoir and water cooling reservoir which is employed in my invention.

Referring now more in particular to the drawings, wherein the same part throughout the several views are designated by like reference characteis, the numeral 1 points out the main frame members of the clothes press upon which operath'e parts are installed, and which main frame members provide prevent waste,

standards or legs for supporting the clothes press.

A stationary pressing table, or what is better known in the art as the buck 2 is mounted upon the clothes press frame. A pressing head 3 is fixed to arms 4, the arms being pivoted upon a support and pivot member 5. The arms 4 are joined together and provided with the usual counterbalanced weight 6. The head is provided with an actuating handle 7 and steam discharge valve 8. The pressing head is, therefore, adapted to undergo pivotal displacement about its support 5 and be thrown into pressing engagement with the buck. As is understood the clothes to be pressed are placed upon the buck and pressure brought to bear upon. the clothes thereon.

The clothes press machine is provided with the usual steam boiler 10. This boiler is provided with .a heating burner for generating steam. The boiler is connected with the pressing head through a pipe line 11. It is pointed out that the support and pivot member 5 is constructed of pipe or tubing for conveying steam to the head. The pipe 11 connects with this pipe 5 and steam is led into the head through the two tubes 12 which connect with the pipe 5. The steam discharge valve 8 is so related with the steam pipes 12 on the interior of the pressing head that steam may be discharged within the pressing head by lightly touching the discharge handle 8 at the time the operator brings the pressing head downwardly into contact with the garment. This action causes a steam jet discharge through the cloth of the pressing head and against the garment to be pressed. This action heats d dampens the clothes causing them to take on the desired renewed and pressed appearance.

The clothes press buck 2 is provided with a heating coil set 14 which is coiled about in the buck for the purpose of keeping the temperature thereof at a high degree capable of cooperating with the head in heating the garments as they are pressed. The steam pipe 11 connects with a pipe line 13. The steam pipe 13 connects with a pipe line 15 which transmits highly heated steam through the heating coils 14;. A pipe 16 connects with the steam boiler, and a pipe 16 joins this pipe 16 to the heating coils 14.. Thus steam is transmitted from the boiler through the heating coils 14: and returns to the boiler through the pipes 16 and 16*. These pipes are fitted with suitable cut-off valves for controlling the transmission of steam.

In the modern type press there is usually means provided through the buck for the purpose of subjecting the garments to be pressed to a vigorous air suction for facilitating the drying of the steam therefrom .The drawings show a vacuum pipe 18, and connected thereto is a suction pipe 19. The steamy-pipe 12 is fitted with a nozzle or pressure" j-et 20 contained within a pipe T connection? 21. The pipe 19 "connects with the T and thus joins with the pipe 13,,and the steam pressure nozzle 20 has its open jet arranged adjacent the opening of the pipe 19. When steam emits from the nozzle 20 under high pressure through the pipe line a steady air flow is induced through the pipe 19, away from the buck thus inducing a suction throughout the volume of the buck which in turn draws air through the garments con-' fined thereon for the purpose of drying said garments while being pressed. As the steam passes from the small nozzle 20 it expands adjacent the opening of the pipe 19 which induces the suction throughout the parts as described.

It is with the open exhaust pipe 19 found on the conventional type steam clothes press of present day use that my invention has to do, and the cardinal feature of my invention relates to the means employed in connection with this open exhaust pipe 1 9 for collecting the exhaust steam therefrom to prevent the steam from being discharged to atmosphere to damage by rust, and otherwise make disagreeable, the building in which a steam press is in operation. I am aware of the fact that steam condensers in general are old, but I am not aware of any adaptation of a steam condenser to a clothes press for the particular purpose as disclosed in this application.

A cut-off valve 22 is employed in the pipe line 13 just'forward of the nozzle 20 and this valve is provided with a hand control 23 accessibly located so that the operator using the press may open or close said valve during the pressing operations. When the valve 22 is closed the steam ejected from the nozzle 20 is forced through the pipe 19 into the buck thus passing damp steam into the garment for facilitating the pressing thereof. When the valve 22 is opened steam does not pass to the buck but instead thereof it causes a suction to be created through the garments for drying them.

An open water receptacle 24 connects with a pump 25. A pipe 26 connects the pump with the pipe line 16. When it is desired to replenish the water supply in the boiler for inducing a suction water is poured into the water receptacle and pumped therefrom under pressure through the pipe 26, and through the pipe 16 into the boiler. The pipe 16 connects with a pipe 17, which is in turn joined with the pipe connection 5 and 12. This communicates the pressing head with the pipe- 16, and the pipe 17 is specially employed for the purpose of drawing 011 any condensation which may occur in the pressing head or adjacent pipes thereof. This last named pipe is known as the bleed and is used cold water from the pressing head priorto operation.

A steam condensing chamber 27 is provided with a' pipe connection 28. The pipe 13 of the vacuum system is joined with connection 28, and aiby-pass pipe line 29 is com nected with the bleed pipe 17 joining said bleed pipe with the condensing chamber. The by-pass line is fitted with a cut-off valve 30. A water collecting reservoir 32 is joined with the condensing chamber through a pipe 33. The water collecting reservoir is joined ,with the Water receptacle and adjacent pump through a connecting pipe 34. A drain valve 35 is employed'for draining water from any of the elements associated with the pump.

I have employed the steam condensing chamber for receiving the exhaust steam from the pipe line 13 and for receiving any accumulated" water or condensation passed from the pressing head through the bypass 29 into the chamber. This condensing chamber is employed to save the waste and avoid the inconvenience caused by the exhaust steam passing out into the atmosphere which is the case with the present type clothes presses. The bleed drain pipe 17 is ordinarlly piped out through the floor or empties out into a bucket provided for that purpose, and when such is the case itmakesforthe general inconvenience of operators and tailoring establishments since the bucket necessarily has to be-emptied often or leaks uponthe floor. The condensation, vapor, and other disagreeable by-products from the pressing head and buck are collected and passed into the condensing reservoir 27 instead of being ejected into atmosphere.

The water products pass from the condensing chamber into the collecting reservoir 32. This reservoir provides an adequate retaining means for holding the water until it is pumped back into the boiler. This water is pumped into the boiler by operating pump 25 which draws the water from the reservoir and the chamber and forcibly passes it to the boiler. j

When the valve 22 is opened the steam rushes into the condensing chamber, where it is cooled and gravitates to the collecting reservoir. \Vhen the valve 22 is 'closed'the steam passes from the pipe 12 under pressure through the pipe line 19 into the buck.

for bleeding collected clearly facilitate a tailoring establishment in maintaining the establishment in a drier and cleaner condition than otherwise would be possible should the steam be permitted to exhaust into the atmosphere.

It will be understood that the collected condensation will provide a supply of warm water gathered in the reservoir 32 to be reinjected into the boiler. This will obviate the often refill of the boiler with cold water. Thus this apparatus installed in connection with a steam clothes press will make for the more economical operation of said press in that less heating of the boiler will be necessary.

This apparatus also eliminates the annoying exhaust noise of the usual clothes press'machine, and it clearly reduces the intense heat within a tailoring establishment caused by hot exhaust steam.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a clothes press, the combination with is opened, the vacuum a buck, a pressing head, a boiler, means for supplying steam from the boiler to the buck and pressing head, and a suction pipe connected with the buck, of a condenser, a connection between the condenser and suction pipe, a pump, a connection between the pump and condenser, and a connection-between the pump and boiler.

52. In a clothes press, the combination with a buck, a pressing head, a boiler, means for supplying steam from the boiler to the buck and pressing head, and a suction pipe connected with the buck, of a condenser, a connection between the condenser and suction pipe, a reservoir connected with the condenser, and a pump connected with the reservoir and boiler.

3. In a clothes press the combination with a buck, a pressing head, a boiler, steam pipes connecting the boiler with the buck and pressing head, a suction pipe connected with the buck, a fitting in one of the steam pipes and with which the suction pipe is connected, a jet nozzle in the fitting for producing suction in said suction pipe, and a bleed pipe connected with the pressing head and boiler, of a condenser, a valved connection between the condenser and fitting, a bypass connecting the bleed pipe with the condenser, a reservoir connected with the condenser, and a pump connected with the res ervoir and boiler.

JACOB, BUFF. 

